Nature reserve improves habitat for rare bumblebee

1 hour ago

Shivani ChaudhariEssex

News image — Shrill carder bees thrive in warm, open spaces and make a high-pitched buzzing noise

Steven Falk/Buglife A close up of a bee sitting on a yellow flower. — Shrill carder bees thrive in warm, open spaces and make a high-pitched buzzing noise

A nature reserve has been awarded funding to create a habitat to support a rare bumblebee.

Canvey Wick Nature Reserve on Canvey Island, Essex, was the first brownfield area to be designated as a site of special scientific interest by Natural England in 2005 and is home to the shrill carder bee.

The Canvey Wick Restoration Project has received funding to improve the environment for the bees from Natural England's Species Recovery Programme.

Marc Outten, the nature reserve's manager, said: "Being involved in the Species Recovery Programme funded at Canvey Wick is incredibly rewarding, giving us a real opportunity to secure the future of one of the UK's rarest bumblebees, the shrill carder bee."

The project is a collaboration between charity Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), the Land Trust and Buglife, a conservation trust, and it is estimated to take three years to complete starting in October.

Canvey Wick is a 93.2-hectare (230-acre) site managed by the RSPB in partnership with Buglife and on behalf of the Land Trust.

RSPB An aerial view of a large, green open space that is bordered by the sea. — Canvey Wick was designated as site of special scientific interest in 2005

The shrill carder bees, also known as as bombus sylvarum, can be found in a few regions including Kent, Somerset Levels, Gwent Levels, Kenfig–Port Talbot (Glamorgan), and South Pembrokeshire.

Buglife said the shrill carder bee is vulnerable and the insect is known for its high-pitched buzz when flying and thrives in warm, open conditions among flowering plants.

Canvey Wick said the funding from Natural England would be spent on creating a flower-rich habitat, bare ground, varied natural land features and open conditions for the bees.

A spokesperson for RSPB, said the project's first year would involve scrub being "cut to ground level", which would open the area and reduce shading but leave root systems in tact.

In the project's second year roots and stumps would be removed to help create an environment needed to support wildflowers and brownfield species.

They added the final year of the project would likely see "habitat diversity" grow, which would make the restored area easier to manage in the future.